The doors open to Glee 2017 tomorrow (Monday) . In a change to the normal procedure, badges will not be automatically sent out to visitors unless they have registered for this year's show. As a result, all visitors and interested parties need to visit the gleebirmingham website and register in order to secure their free entry to Glee 2017...

Leading grass seed supplier Johnsons Lawn Seed launches Lawn Thickener, its latest innovation, exclusively at Glee 2017. A result of the world’s most advanced grass seed breeding programme together with developments in fertiliser coating technology – problems such as slow growth, sparse coverage and birds pecking at seeds are set to be a thing of the past.

Lawn Thickener consists of seeds from the next generation of grass seed - tetraploid perennial ryegrass. These contain twice as many chromosomes than normal (diploids), meaning quicker germination and establishment, better drought tolerance, less watering and greater resilience, as well as the ability to be sown at temparatures as low as 3°C.

Not only that, but Lawn Thickener also employs SeedBooster® technology – a child, pet and environmentally friendly two in one seed coating, initially developed for the professional turf market. Each seed is wrapped in its own parcel of fast and slow release nitrogen based fertiliser, which not only promotes the seeds germination and establishment rates even further, but also causes more offshoots and a denser sward.

Guy Jenkins, Consumer Manager said: “A single application of this new product will make it possible to increase lawn thickness by up to 30% more than applying lawn seed on its own or with loose fertiliser, creating a much more hardwearing and visually appealing lawn within a wide variety of conditions. Perhaps the most surprising benefit of the nitrogen rich coatings are that it also acts as a harmless deterrent to birds - saving seed and improving oveall germination rates like never before.”

Developed with parent company DLF, the product aims to make it even easier and quicker for consumers to create a thicker and more luscious lawn – and for garden retailers to be able to stay on top of all of their customers needs and expectations, within one catch-all range. Available in 500g £8.25 SRP and 1.5kg £18.49 SRP cartons, the product is now available to order and is expected on retail shelves in early spring 2018.